Doubt
by aangismyhomie
Summary: Annabeth was surprised to learn that what really hurt wasn’t the doubt in her heart, but the lack thereof instead." Percabeth oneshot, takes place right after my fic "Caught."


**Hi Everybody! This is an angsty Percabeth fic that takes place right after "Caught." In other words, right before Percy leaves to go to Montauk in book 5. I worked on it for a while on my brother's computer and forgot to upload it here...so here it is. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

Annabeth was surprised to learn that what really hurt wasn't the doubt in her heart, but the lack thereof instead.

After the happenings of Clarisse's bet, camp returned to normal. However, thoughts of the war returned when regular camp activities resumed and Chiron came back from his meeting with the Party Ponies. The war's deadline was looming dangerously close. They only had a matter of weeks before Percy's sixteenth birthday, and major preparations had to be made. Border patrol was reinstated, and the stock of monsters grew dramatically. Capture the Flag was played twice a week to keep up the camper's skills, and cabin inspection was terminated (Much to Silena's chagrin). At every meal, when the campers scraped some of their food into the brazier, they prayed thoughtfully to their parents for the safety of their friends, mortal family members, and even the safety of their godly relatives. No one was safe from the war.

Especially not Percy Jackson.

The son of Poseidon was falling apart from worry and anticipation, and everyone around him could tell. He was distant and gloomy, and trained all day with Riptide, only stepping out of the arena to eat, sleep, and play Capture the Flag. Even when he was out of the arena he rushed his meals and got to bed very late, only to wake up very early. He barely spoke to his comrades when he played Capture the Flag; he only talked to them about battle plans and then ran off to kill monsters or attempt to retrieve the flag. No one at camp could cheer him up.

Though there was one thing that seemed to make him happy.

Every day or so he would call his mortal friend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. They would talk about everything and nothing, laughing together and making stupid jokes about stupid things. His face seemed to light up when she picked up her phone. He would have a constant, glowing smile that seemed to belong to only Rachel, and he never seemed to notice Annabeth nearby while he talked to her.

At first, she had passed him by chance. A stray comment from Percy about the color of Rachel's hair caught her attention, and she hadn't even noticed until Percy hung up that she had been spying on them, listening to everything Percy said and trying to decipher what Rachel could have been saying on the other end of the line. From then on, she "accidentally" stumbled in on their phone calls and listened, just to hear what he was saying. To pretend that his laughter and happiness were being caused by herself, not just some mortal girl.

Then again, she sucked at showing him just how much she cared.

Annabeth would do anything for Percy. She was prepared to die if it was necessary. She wanted to tell him how she felt so badly, but at the same time she was terrified that it would end their friendship, or even that he would return the affection. Annabeth knew if she found out that her love for Percy was mutual it would only hurt so much more if he perished at the hand of Kronos.

She wondered if Percy had been having the same concerns, but he was just so hard to read. For her, anyway. She used to think that they shared a dynamic that was unique to the two of them. They would put up fronts and bicker with one another, only to come across those rare moments once in a while where they realized just how close they were. Upon reflection, most harsh words they shared were done in jest anyway. They had no real resentment towards each other, no reason to stay away.

Still, being close would only make it hurt more if either one of them died in the war (and it was practically guaranteed that Percy wasn't going to make it).

But, was it really worth it to protect her heart at this point? She was going to hurt either way, whether she was too cowardly to admit her feelings and watched him die without ever knowing how much he meant to her, or admitted her feelings and find out he loved her back, only to lose him no matter what.

It wasn't worth it, Annabeth decided. She loved Percy Jackson. He shouldn't have to spend his final days without her. It had been awful of her to ignore him for this long.

So Annabeth decided to tell him. She would just go, run to his cabin and confess her feelings. He would look at her with surprise and shock, and either reject her affections or welcome them wholeheartedly. She just wanted him to know he was loved, and she was certain the knowledge would make him happy whether or not he returned her affections.

"Annabeth." Annabeth almost jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice behind her. And sure enough, when she turned around he was standing there in the doorway of the Athena cabin.

"Percy." She said breathlessly. "Hi."

"Hi." He returned the greeting. "Listen, I just wanted to tell you…" Annabeth held her breath. What was he going to say? Was there a possibility he was about to confess romantic feelings for her?

"Yes?" She asked, prompting him to finish his sentence. He sighed.

"I just wanted to say goodbye." He glanced up at her slightly, only to transfer his gaze to the floor a moment afterward. Annabeth stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Good…goodbye?" She stammered. "Where are you going?"

"Mom and Paul want me to go to Montauk with them before the war." He admitted. But Annabeth detected something more than that was happening to make him look guilty.

"Is Rachel going with you?" She asked quietly. Percy's eyes widened with surprise. Annabeth could only assume she had guessed correctly.

"Well…yeah." He confessed, scratching the back of his head. "They thought I would want to see her before the big battle. Beckendorf is going to come get me at Montauk in a few days and then we'll invade the Princess Andromeda." Annabeth blinked and cast her gaze away from him.

"Oh. Wow." She said. "So…this is the last time I'll get to see you before you go into battle?" Percy bit his bottom lip and nodded.

"Um…yeah, I guess it is." He looked up, hoping to meet her eyes. Annabeth looked up, and they made eye contact for the first time in weeks.

"Good luck." She said.

"Thanks." He calmly replied. "I…ugh. Goodbye, Annabeth." He sighed, waved, and left the cabin. Annabeth stood there, begging her legs to run after him, her voice to call out to him, for something to happen that would keep him from going. But she stood still. She said nothing. And she let the tears pushing at the backs of her eyes fall when Percy disappeared from sight.

**So...what did you think? Please review!**


End file.
